I left Flagstaff early this morning (real early...didn't realized I'd entered another time zone!) and headed south to Sedona. Colorado 89A is a narrow, winding, 2-lane road that drops about 3,000 feet between Flagstaff and Sedona along a really striking canyon. You'll have to take my word for that, though, because the observation area was closed due to state government budget restrictions, so I couldn't get any pictures of the canyon.
Sedona is a cute, artsy, touristy little town, but as early as I was in the morning, there weren't a lot of turistas up and about. Sedona dates from 1876 when the native Indians in the valley were forcibly moved to a reservation about 180 miles away in the dead of winter. This'll give you an idea of what the town looks like:
I wasn't sure about this, though. Apparently they have some girlie-men in Sedona:
I spent a couple hours sipping coffee, enjoying the scenery, and people-watching before heading on south. The terrain around Sedona is striking. This was taken about 15 miles further south:
And this was another formation viewed from the same spot:
After leaving the Sedona area, I hopped on I-17 and headed down toward Phoenix. About 50 miles south of Sedona lies the Montezuma's Castle National Monument, which was quite interesting:
This plaque offers up a little information about the site:
Double-click on the picture, then left click once more, and you should be able to read the plaque. Any, it was interesting, although not quite as impressive as it's larger cousin, Mesa Verde.
I left Montezuma's Castle around noon and arrived in Phoenix about 2:30 or so. I'll be in Phoenix visiting with our son, Patrick, until I leave to head north to the Salt Flats on Wednesday. Blog postings over the next few days will be a little sparse, but I'll pick them up again on Wednesday.
Miles today: 194. Total: 2,793.
